The Secretary should see that dates of meetings are fixed well in advance, and circulate the details avoiding clashes with Deanery and Diocesan Synods.
The PCC Secretary should prepare the agenda with the Chair of the PCC and the standing committee. The agenda should then be circulated to members at least ten full days before the meeting along with any written reports or documents that are due to be discussed.
A notice to the church community should be displayed on or near the church door at least 10 days prior to the meeting giving the date, time, place of the meeting. This lets church members know that the meeting is taking place and gives them the opportunity to raise matters with PCC members.
Agendas
The order of the agenda is flexible so that if a guest has been invited to contribute to the meeting their item can be taken near the beginning. It is very easy for the agenda to focus on business matters to the exclusion of all else and this can lead to discussions that appear to have little to do with furthering the mission of the church. An awareness of the mission should be present in all that we do but it is often a good idea to be more explicit and intentional about this when planning the meetings.
For example, if your parish or mission community has a Mission Action Plan, the PCC might decide to focus on a different point or section at each meeting to discuss progress and the way ahead. Alternatively, the PCC can give special attention to a particular sub-committee at each meeting or invite speakers to talk on areas that are important to the ministry of your church.
A guideline agenda
- Prayer
- Apologies for absence
- Membership - a report on changes in the membership of the PCC since the last meeting (this may not be an item on every occasion)
- Minutes:
- To approve the minutes of the last meeting
- Matters arising from the minutes
- Receive minutes/reports of sub-committees/working parties or other officers. These sub-committees may look at issues such as outreach, discipleship, stewardship, building programmes etc.
- Fabric (state of the building, repairs, future plans)
- Finance (to receive a report from the treasurer)
- Deanery or diocesan items
- Future events: to make arrangements for a forthcoming event.
- Correspondence
- Any other urgent business.
- Confidentiality: to decide whether any part of the proceedings of the meeting should be regarded as confidential.
- Closing Prayer
Some of these issues can be covered very quickly and if there is nothing to report then it is fine to say so and for the chair to move on.
Minutes
During the meeting, the PCC Secretary should take accurate notes (including attendance), and then prepare the minutes and distribute them afterwards. The minutes do not need to include a full account of who said what but are instead a brief summary of essentials.
It is important that the minutes include accurate and clear wording for decisions, resolutions and action points. All resolutions passed by the PCC should be recorded with the names of the proposer, seconder and voting figures. If action is to be taken please make it clear who is responsible. It is often a good idea to put names in a separate column running alongside the minutes so they are obvious or at least put them in bold type.
The minutes of formal meetings normally follow a pattern similar to that below:
- Description of meeting - ie: title, date, time, place, etc
- List of those present
- Apologies for absence
- Record of any corrections necessary to the previous meeting’s minutes followed by a note that the minutes were approved
- Matters arising from the minutes - normally this reports action taken as a result of decisions at the last meeting.
- Other agenda items – including reports from sub-committees where needed.
- Date of next meeting
- Confidentiality - Where the PCC decides that part of the meeting is confidential, those items should be minuted separately clearly marked as confidential.
When the draft minutes are ready check them with the Chair before they are circulated to other members. The minutes do not become an official record until they have been approved at the next meeting and it is always useful to bring the initial notes in case any of the items are disputed. It is important to maintain a complete set of minutes with accompanying papers.